Before we begin:

1. The time frame is after 'Trouble in Tokyo'.

2. I don't own Teen Titans.

It's A Trap

"Just let me see it again," Beast Boy requested.

"No," Raven replied, with her arms folded.

A gust of wind blew across the barren, rocky landscape, making her cloak billow out behind her, and rustling the sagebrush. They stood on the limestone rocks before a deep crevice, the entrance to a network of caverns.

"Come on, Raven."

"No."

It was late afternoon, but quite dark since the sky was filled with rain clouds. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Because you know I'm right," Beast Boy said.

"Ok, fine," she grumbled. She closed her eyes and focused her concentration. Her body faded and in its place a large, black, magnificent bird appeared, its wings outstretched. Then it faded and Raven was herself again.

"Are you satisfied now?"

"Yes," he replied. "It's not a raven."

"It most certainly is!" she insisted. "I think I know a little bit about how I image my own spirit."

"And I think I know a little more than you about birds, and that is not a raven. I'd say it looks more like a crow or maybe a grackle."

"Great," she said, glaring at him. "I'm on this waste-of-time mission, hundreds of miles from home, and I'm stuck here with the president of the Audubon Society."

"The what society?"

"It's an environmental….Oh, forget it. Let's just get this over with." She stared down into the gaping crevice in the rock. "Slade's lair isn't even down here."

"Robin picked up a signal and traced it back to this general location," he reminded her.

"But he picked several signals that Slade is in hiding out in a network of caverns miles south from here. That's why everyone else is searching there," she reminded him. "We are wasting our time. And these caverns can wind on forever."

"Well, if we don't go in and it turns out Slade left some evidence down here, do you want to explain to Robin why we didn't search here?"

"No," she grumbled.

Beast Boy started to climb down into the dark, mouth like opening. Thunder rumbled again and a few large drops of rain fell.

"Come on, Grackle."

"Somebody is going to get a good slap."

"I thought you were raised in a society that didn't believe in violence?" he teased.

"You are the poster child for an exception to that rule," she said dryly. "Wait a minute. I'll go down first."

"Why?"

"Because knowing you, you'll be staring up at my butt while I climb down."

"Ha! You wish! I have very high standards. Have you been working out? Meditating all day doesn't count as working out."

She wasn't listening. She started the climb down into the darkness. The air was moist and it smelled like generations of bats had lived in there. She soon realized floating down would be easier than climbing, so she did. Soon her feet touched the wet, rocky floor.

"Gross!" she muttered. In the dim light she could see a passageway stretching off into the distance. No sign of anyone.

Beast Boy nimbly climbed down and joined her. They produced their flashlights and shone them around. There was nothing but rock walls and water seeping through in some places. They started walking, with Beast Boy in the lead.

"I hope we don't get swarmed by bats," she murmured.

"I wouldn't worry so much about the bats," he told her. "I'd worry more about the cave spiders."

"Cave spiders?" she shuddered.

"What's wrong with cave spiders? They're all God's creatures."

"Fine. Maybe you can find a nice one as your girlfriend." She shook her head. "Certainly no human female would take you."

"You know, female spiders often eat the male after mating..."

"All the better," she deadpanned.

After a while they couldn't see the entrance any more, and it would have been pitch black without their flashlights. They could hear water dripping and some kind of grinding sounds. Hundreds of tiny claws scratching on the rocks?

"I really don't like this," Raven said, stopping.

"Come on. I can't believe Raven doesn't like a creepy place. If you get too scared in the dark, we can hold hands," he teased.

"Don't say silly things like that," she groaned. "It just makes me angry."

She did feel the familiar little twinge of anger rising inside her, but she knew it wasn't her real feeling, just a little kick from her demon heritage. She relaxed and let it pass. She noticed there was a swirl of other feelings that Beast Boy's comment had provoked. That was odd. It was just one of his stupid jokes…

In the moment while Raven was lost in self analysis, and Beast Boy was debating whether he should say his clever comeback, Slade struck.

Too late did they see his robotic henchmen step out from crevices in front of them with guns raised. Too late did Beast Boy try to push Raven out of the line of fire. Too late did Raven try to conjure a protective dark energy shield. There were several rapid orange flashes. They fell to the ground, unconscious.